Executive Women Are You Burnt Out? It May Not Just be Your Job.

Are you tired, exhausted, overwhelmed?  Do you think you are the only one not able to handle a career, a family, a home and everything life throws at us?

You are NOT alone! If you do not believe me, let’s look at some recent statistics.

A BBC.com article in October 2021 shared some very scary statistics.

• Per a Linked in Survey 74% of women said they were very or somewhat stressed for work-related reasons compared to 61% of male respondents.
• Healthcare company, Maven, found that mothers in paid employment are 23% more likely to experience burnout than fathers in paid employment
• An estimated 2.35 million working mothers in the US have suffered burnout since the start of the pandemic. 
• A study by academics from Harvard University, Harvard Business School and London Business School used responses from 30 thousand individuals globally found that women, especially mothers, had spent significantly more time on childcare and chores during the pandemic and it was directly linked to lower well-being. 
• The pandemic obliterated supports systems that previously allowed women to balance work and home.
• CNBC and SurveyMonkey found the number of women describing themselves as ‘very ambitious’ regarding their career declined significantly during the pandemic.

The stats on mothers shows there often is still and unbalanced demands of home and work.

Then we add on to this list the other demands in life which may include elderly parents, extended family, community, church, causes and there is no time for you.  No wonder we are burning out!

If you are stating to think it is hopeless, that is not the intention.  This was to show you

1. You are not alone
2. This is a serious issue
3. We are in this together

So now, what do we do to improve the situation.

You can find many articles that tell you if you are burning out it is time for another job, or you need to cut back on your extracurricular activities. 

These are very plausible options, but they are not the only ones. 

And I would never recommend quitting one’s job is the first solution to consider!

Several years ago, I was fortunate enough to have received great advice from my therapist.  I was burning out; I was putting in crazy long days, traveling once or twice a month on business, barely in my house, keeping up with volunteering and just exhausted! 

I said to my therapist, “I am considering quitting my job and just going to work at Target!”  Afterall, my leisurely stroll through Target on a Saturday was my happy place at the time.

Thankfully, my therapist had been treating me since my early twenties, so he knows me well and called me out.  He said, “Virginia you would work just as hard at Target, so why give up the income and position you have earned.”

THIS WAS A TURNING POINT!

It was at that moment it wasn’t all about my job and my boss, I was a big part in creating my situation.  I share this with you in the hopes you will take a moment to stop and think about yourself, your work style, your priorities and how you react to what life throws at you.

Here are some questions to help you think through this:

• Are the expectations at work from my management, my boss or me?  Reality is it is probably a mix of these. 

Obviously, our superiors have certain expectations but women often add to them or exaggerate them.   I had a boss that would email and text well into the evening and early in the morning.  I assumed I needed to respond ASAP.  Guess what, he never told me that.  

• Ask what the expectations are? 

This can apply at work or in your charity/community work too.  Do not assume or self-impose crazy standards!

Next time I had a new manager that emailed me at 7am I asked him what his expectations were and he said that he worked best at that hour but did not expect others to respond immediately.

• How am I prioritizing and using my time?

Odds are you have time that you are not getting the most value out of.  As we are returning to the office, it will be great to see people in person, but be mindful of how long the hallway conversations run. 

Make sure you are accepting meetings that you need to be at.  Delegate those you are invited to just so you are in the loop.  Decline ones that do not have clear agendas. 

Delay meetings that are not related to key priorities that week or month. 

In addition to having clarity on expectations, being diligent about how you spend your time (remember you cannot make more of it!!), remind yourself that you need to build in recovery time to perform at your best.

Want to learn more, we should chat!